Urban campus with green heart completes the stately Paleiskwartier

On the last two plots of the Paleiskwartier, at Onderwijsboulevard 300, Avans University of Applied Sciences and BrabantWonen have developed 20,000 m² of educational facilities and 124 student apartments above a car park. DP6 and its team designed an integrated plan featuring robust, urban buildings arranged around a publicly accessible green courtyard, transforming the complex into a true campus.

Until recently, Avans’ various departments were spread across multiple buildings in the city centre of Den Bosch. With the new development at Onderwijsboulevard 300, close to the existing educational buildings at number 215 and on Hugo de Grootlaan, Avans is now clustering its programmes along the same street. From the very beginning, collaboration with BrabantWonen aimed to include student housing on campus. The result is a vibrant, mixed-use ensemble of educational buildings, student residences, and cafés surrounding a green inner garden, all built above a semi-subterranean car park.

The landscape between the buildings forms a welcome green oasis and meeting place within an otherwise stony urban environment, with a continuous pedestrian route running through to the other Avans buildings on the Onderwijsboulevard. Instead of walking around the block on narrow pavements, students now pass through the inner area, with its squares, terraces and gardens. This creates a natural place for meeting and interaction, for students and staff alike, but also for local businesses and other residents of the Paleiskwartier.

The architecture references the industrial buildings that once characterised the area. The façades are strongly rhythmic, with subtle variations distinguishing the educational building from the residential ones. Along the Onderwijsboulevard, this structure achieves a solid appearance through its infill of red brickwork. In contrast, the façades facing the inner courtyard and the residential blocks on the eastern side are lighter, more open and transparent. Materials such as concrete, brick, steel, and glass also echo the history of the area.

Through a spacious atrium, the new educational building prominently presents its heart to both the Boulevard side and the inner campus. Together with the transparent ground floor, the atrium adds vitality to the Onderwijsboulevard and serves as a ‘showcase’ that invites the public to discover what Avans has to offer.

The plan anticipates potential future change. The structural grid of 8.10 metres ensures efficiency for parking and provides flexibility for education and housing. The open-frame construction, combined with the modular system for installations and façades, allows the educational building to be fully reconfigured in 1.80-metre increments. Avans can easily move partitions and reorganise spaces. This flexibility, practical for the future, has already proven its value during construction. While the shell was being built, the final layout was designed in collaboration with the academic programmes that will occupy the building. The plan also allows for building sections to be removed or expanded if needed in the future, and even part of the educational building could be converted into housing. The student apartments are equally adaptable: with minimal adjustments, a student unit can be converted into a starter home.

The Academy for Value Creation & Entrepreneurship (AWO) is the first to relocate, moving into the new premises at Campus300 on 10 November. Other academies will follow during the 2025–2026 academic year. Meanwhile, work on the landscape continues, with completion scheduled for spring. The student apartments are already occupied. The photos shown here were taken shortly before the official opening; a new series will follow once the campus is fully in use.